LETTSWORTH — The giant steel doors below Russell Beauvais’ feet are holding back water that can determine the future of south Louisiana — and far beyond.

On one side of the elaborate complex in this remote corner of the state lined with sugar cane fields is the Mississippi River. The other side leads to the Atchafalaya River.

Allowing the two to merge — as nature would prefer — would be nothing short of epochal.

“Without this, the nation and the state of Louisiana wouldn't exist like it is today,” the 61-year-old Cajun from the nearby town of Morganza says of the Old River Control Structures, where he serves as operations manager.

Of all the levees, gates and walls keeping the Mississippi River in place across the length of America’s spine, Old River Control may be the most consequenti

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